Planners prefer Griswold site for state police firing range

GRISWOLD >> State planners have announced that they are now focusing on a single eastern Connecticut site as the potential home for a new state police firing range.

Department of Administrative Services Commissioner Melody Currey said Tuesday that state agencies are beginning a more thorough review of the Griswold location after a parcel off Westminster Road in Sprague was dropped from consideration.

The targeted location in Griswold is roughly 110 acres and almost completely surrounded by Pachaug State Forest.

DAS spokesman Jeff Beckham says “a harder look” at the Sprague site found numerous issues, including the approval of a solar farm on land west of the parcel.

State police say they need a new range because the current one in Simsbury is prone to flooding and is rapidly eroding.